Thursday, November 24, 2016

Amway is an illegal pyramid scheme. | GFBrandenburg's Blog

It’s surprising how quiet the media have been about how corrupt Amway is, the company which made Betsy DeVos rich enough to have sufficient clout to be able to ruin public education?

Did you know that they had to pay $150 million just a few years ago? I had no idea. Goiing by what I wrote previously about Multi-Level Marketing (the polite name for modern pyramid schemes), the FTC and other regulatory groups treat Amway and their peers with kid gloves not because it’s not a fraud and a con, but because a lot of Senators and Representatives in both parties are beneficiaries of these Ponzi schemes. So whenever an agency tries to stop this Ponzi mess, there is immediate pushback from another branch of government.

Here is some analysis that appeared in 2010, just after Amway was hit with this ruling:

Among the accusations made in the Amway class action suit that resulted in Amway’s agreement to pay $150 million (the suit was technically brought against Quixtar, the now defunct name used by Amway for its North American operations):

* Amway is an illegal pyramid scheme.* Amway’s Kingpin companies that sell “motivation and training” products to recruits are also an illegal pyramid scheme.* Amway criminally violates federal racketeering law.* Amway violates California’s “endless chain” law.* Amway masks “criminal behavior” with claims that it is in compliance with a federal Amway ruling of more than 25 years ago. In fact, Amway is not in compliance with the ruling.* Amway induces salespeople to buy thousands of dollars of overpriced products and useless “success tools” and then to recruit others to do the same in an endless chain scheme that dooms, by design, nearly all to losses.* Amway deliberately deceives consumers to enroll in the pyramid scheme in which they inevitably suffer financial loss.* Amway’s arbitration rule which is intended to prevent victim lawsuits against it is unfair and “unconscionable”.* Amway commits wire fraud and mail fraud.